Mountain Resources Commission goes on chopping block

In 2009, the N.C. General Assembly passed legislation that sought to encourage “quality growth and development” while preserving the natural resources and farmland of Western North Carolina. Less than three years later, the current session of the Legislature is now proposing to eliminate the Mountain Resources Commission that was established to oversee those goals, according to Rep. Ray Rapp of Mars Hill.

According to “Ray’s Raleigh Report,” emailed by his office today, a newly minted draft bill of the “Boards & Commissions Efficiency Act of 2012” would eliminate or reduce membership for some 102 of the state’s boards, commissions, and task forces or committees. The Mountain Resources Commission is on the elimination list. Currently chaired by David Gantt, Buncombe County commission chair (who could not be reached for comment), the commission also includes Buncombe County representatives Jim Coman, chairman of the Buncombe County Soil & Water Board of Supervisors, and Bob Shepherd, who serves on the Council of Advisors of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, along with residents of other mountain counties and several ex officio members from WNC organizations.

Also slated for elimination is the Mountain Area Resources Technical Advisory Council, originally created by the same enabling legislation as the MRC. Its members, appointed by the MRC, are to include “environmental, engineering, planning, and state and local government professionals with expertise and experience” to contribute to the commission’s work.

The draft bill’s wording calls for elimination of “certain state boards and commissions that have not met recently, are duplicative, or are not deemed critical. The list includes, along with the MRC (which has been meeting regularly since 2010, mostly recently on April 20 of this year), a range of groups such the Governor’s Advisory Council on Aging, the N.C. Child Fatality Taskforce, the Committee on Dropout Prevention, NC Housing Partnership, NC Sustainable Local Food Advisory Council, Mine Safety and Health Advisory Council; Legislative Commission on Methamphetamine Abuse, NC Small Business Contractors Authority, and the NC Travel and Tourism Board—to name just a few. The full list is given below.

As a draft bill, the proposal has not yet been submitted for action and does not have a bill number at this time. Stay tuned.